What is the secret to a good pound cake?
“Pound cake should be light, with a finely textured, moist, and even crumb,” says Claire Saffitz, BA’s associate food editor and baker extraordinaire. She has created, tested, and made dozens of pound cakes, plus she’s well-versed in the science of baking (yep, it’s a science).
Is butter cake the same as pound cake?
Butter cakes (also referred to as creamed cakes) have a lighter texture and greater volume than pound cakes. Pound cakes (named because they originally contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour) tend to be denser.
How do I make my pound cake more moist?
Adding buttermilk, sour cream, or cream cheese gives more moisture and flavor to the cake. The acid in buttermilk and sour cream produces a very fine crumb because it tenderizes the gluten in the flour. Sour cream and cream cheese add so much richness that cakes made with them are super moist and almost springy.
Should I use salted or unsalted butter for pound cake?
Unsalted butter
Unsalted butter gives you complete control of the overall flavor of your recipe. This is especially important in certain baked goods where the pure, sweet cream flavor of butter is key (butter cookies or pound cakes). As it pertains to cooking, unsalted butter lets the real, natural flavor of your foods come through.
What makes a pound cake rise high?
If you over-beat the eggs, the air in the eggs will cause the cake to rise. It will create a crust that will rise higher than the cake (the same way that eggs can create a crust in brownies, they can create a crust in cakes as well).
Why does the top of my pound cake crack?
Pound cakes often have cracked tops because the batter is so dense. The exterior of the cake cooks first, which can cause the batter to rise up and crack in the center. How to prevent a crack: If you really can’t stand cracks, bake the cake in a tube pan, rather than a loaf pan.
Which butter is best for cake?
unsalted butter
For baking purposes, the Test Kitchen recommends using unsalted butter so you can better control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe. Salted butter is best for serving at the table with bread or to flavor a dish, like mashed potatoes.
What is gooey butter cake made of?
Gooey butter cake is a type of cake traditionally made in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a flat and dense cake made with wheat cake flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, typically near an inch tall, and dusted with powdered sugar.
What flour is best for pound cake?
Cake Flour
Cake Flour: Cake flour is lighter than all-purpose flour and produces the best pound cake in my opinion. Since it’s so light, the attention remains on the butter. All-purpose flour is simply too heavy for this pound cake recipe; the cake will be heavy as a brick. If needed, use this homemade cake flour substitute.
What happens if you use normal butter instead of unsalted?
You can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter if that’s all you’ve got, especially if you’re making something simple like cookies where the chemistry of adding salt in a specific amount and at a certain time won’t terribly affect the outcome, unlike bread.
Why is my pound cake hard on the outside?
Why does my pound cake have a very tough crust? This usually happens because the oven temperature is too high. Then the crust cooks a lot faster than the inside of the cake, creating a tough crust and a soft middle. Lower the temperature of the oven and cook the pound cake for longer.
Can you over mix a pound cake?
Mistake: Overmixing the batter
This will help to ensure that the dry and wet ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Mix just until blended after each addition. Overmixing the batter creates a tough, rubbery cake.
What happens if you put too much sugar in a pound cake?
Extra sugar or leavening causes a cake to fall; extra flour makes it dry.
What kind of pan do you use for a pound cake?
Need to Know
Prepare your pan Use a light-colored 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-3/4-inch loaf pan (one that isn’t nonstick). Dark finishes often produce overbrowned results, and any other size pan will affect the shape, baking time, and texture of this cake.
What butter do professional bakers use?
You’re going to want to use real butter in your cake recipe. Some of the top brands include Land O Lakes’, Kerry Pure Irish, Vital Farms, Horizon Organic, Organic Valley Cultured, Lurpak, Tillamook, Challenge Dairy, and Cabot.
What butter do bakeries use?
Butter is the favoured fat to use in cakes and bakes and we use unsalted butter for all of our cakes in the bakeries. It is made from churned cream, a process that separates the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is typically made from cow’s milk and is yellow in colour.
Do you refrigerate butter cake?
Storage: You can keep this cake at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate it for up to 7 days. Let it come to room temperature before servings. To freeze the pan: Wrap the cooled pan twice tightly in plastic wrap followed by heavy duty aluminum foil.
Should you refrigerate gooey butter cake?
Does Gooey Butter Cake Need to be Refrigerated? Gooey butter cake can actually be stored at room temperature for about 2-3 days or refrigerated for up to 4-5 days. However, I recommend warming it up just a tad and adding on that sliver of butter before serving if you are eating leftovers or have made it in advance.
Does pound cake need baking powder?
A simple classic pound cake does not utilize any chemical leavening (baking powder or baking soda). This cake relies solely on the air that is mixed into the batter during the creaming process for its rise. This process is known as physical leavening.
Which butter is best for baking?
Will salted butter ruin cake?
One question I get asked all the time is whether it is acceptable to use salted butter in baking, since most recipes either don’t specify salted or unsalted, or explicitly recommended unsalted butter. The simple answer is that yes, it is fine to use salted butter in baking.
Can you over beat a pound cake?
Over beating eggs and dry ingredients can bring in too much air, which can cause dryness. What is this? It also activates gluten, which impacts the texture of the cake. Too much mixing will make it tough and rubbery.
Why do pound cakes crack on top?
How long should a pound cake cool before taking it out of the pan?
Let your pound cake rest in the pan on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before turning it out. We like to run a sharp knife around a smooth edged pan or gently shake a fluted pan after this brief cool down, just to make sure our cake is loose.
What is the best butter to bake cakes with?
For baking purposes, the Test Kitchen recommends using unsalted butter so you can better control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe.